Save Me!
by TiredAfterALongDayOfReadingFan
Summary: Brooke disappeared after graduation and nobody has heard from her since. But when she suddenly shows up injured and scarred they realize she was in more trouble than they could ever imagine. Will they get her to open up in time to save her? Who is she running from? Rating may go up!
1. Finding A Long Lost Loved One

**Everyone is 21, except Jamie, in this story.**

 **The school shooting didn't happen and Keith is still alive.**

 **Karen never got pregnant but Keith and her got married and moved away.**

 **Dan went to jail for stealing money from his store.**

 **Also some important facts for the story**

 **Jamie (4)**

 **Jake and Nathan play basketball**

 **Haley is a teacher**

 **Peyton and Rachel own Tric**

 **Mouth and Clay are newscasters**

 **Tim is on the radio**

 **Lucas is a writer**

 **Chase is a bar manager at Tric**

 **Quinn is a photographer and is married to Clay**

 **Alex works at Tric**

 **Owen is a bar tender at Tric**

 **Welcome to Tree Hill**

Brooke Davis took a deep breath. Staring at the sign, she almost regretted coming back. She isn't sure if anyone is still here or even would want to see her.

Brooke thinks back to her last night in her home town…

 _Flashback_

 _"Okay. We're not gonna do this. We're not gonna get sad. Nothing's gonna change now. We'll all be friends forever. I know it," Brooke promised._

 _"Look, in four years, we're gonna be right back here. You know, done with college or wherever we go. Right?" Everyone agrees with Lucas._

 _"Yeah," Haley speaks._

 _"Hey. Ready for a rematch, or you afraid you're gonna get worked?" Nathan challenges his older brother._

 _"Do you really want to end your night with a loss?" Lucas retorts._

 _With Mouth announcing the game and everyone else cheering for the brothers, it is an end to a great night. They fully believe nothing would ever change between them._

 _Flashback ended_

Brooke wishes with all her heart she could go back to that moment. Everything seemed possible and it was perfect.

Everything changed that night. The hopeful, happy, girl in that memory has all but vanished. The young Davis prays that she could one day go back to the girl in the memory. The girl who was the most popular girl in school. The girl who could get anybody to do whatever she wanted. The girl who believed in anything and who dreamed of being whom she wanted and was well on her way to becoming her. The girl who had friends she could count on and wasn't afraid of anything. A girl who trusted and opened her heart to everyone.

A girl who was naïve to the pain and truly horrible world that was beyond her safe and loving town.

Brooke was truly happy in that moment and since then, she lost sight of herself and of everything she once knew. Everything changed the same night when she walked in at the wrong time and was therefore brutally thrust into the world she has lived in for the past three years. The world where she does whatever she can to survive and to live until the next day where it would all begin again.

Brooke hugs her worn out clothes tighter to herself at the awful thoughts that haunt her. By some miracle Brooke escaped that life and ever since has been trying to come home.

With what was left in the wallet, she stole from the horrible man, Brooke bought a train ticket home and prays that someone would still be here to help her. She begins moving again and once again ignores the pain radiating off the injures she knows her body had. She has to get to someone she knew that might be able to help.

An hour later, Brooke was barely able to move and she can feel her body begin to shut down and her mind begin to fade in and out as she starts to see red dots in front of her and becomes even more dizzy than before. She notices that she arrived at the house that Brooke remembered them buying before she was taken. She summons up whatever remaining strength she has and knocks on the door.

As she hears footsteps inside, indicating that someone was home, Brooke's legs collapse and she harshly falls to the ground.

She hears someone open the door and call her name, but before she can look up everything fades into black.

Nathan and Haley Scott are cuddling on the couch after tucking in their four year old son, Jamie into bed.

"A few years ago, did you ever imagine that we would be where we are today?" Nathan asks his wife as he thinks back.

"You mean, when you never even knew my name and Lucas was still my only friend, no." Haley responds back to her husband.

"Well to be fair, back then all I could think about was basketball and partying," Nathan defends with a smile. "What made you decide to give me a chance?" Nathan asks.

Haley smiles, "I think I decided to give you a chance when you kissed me right after I told you that you could never surprise me anymore. I think that was when I knew you were different. What about you?"

"I think it was when we went on our first date and at a lingerie store, you bought me socks," Both of them laugh at the memory.

Haley drops her smile as a thought comes to her. "I can't believe that Brooke took all that time to set everything up. It was ridiculous but just like her to do something like that."

Noticing the change in his wife, Nathan kisses her head in a loving gesture.

Everyone was thrown for a loop, when they discovered their friend, Brooke, was missing and nobody could get a hold of her. They all tried as best as they could to find her, but it seemed to them that Brooke Davis disappeared off the face of the earth. Eventually they all had to move on and except she was gone but even now everyone still held out hope that she would return home.

"I miss her," Haley states. Brooke was her best friend and nobody could replace her in Haley's heart.

"I know I do too."

Before they can continue, there is a knock on the door and Haley gets up to answer the door. It was late at night and they can't imagine who could be coming over this late.

As Haley opens the door she gasps and blinks a few times to make sure what she is seeing is actually there. Realizing that what she is seeing is actually true she rushes over to the fallen body of her friend.

"Brooke?" Haley calls out.

When she sees that her friend isn't conscious and sees the state she is in Haley knew she has to do something. "Nathan? Get over here. Hurry!"

Nathan springs up off the couch at Haley's panicked tone and rushes over to the door. At the door, Nathan assesses the situation and quickly but gently lifts his friend off the ground and carries her into the house with Haley following closely behind. Nathan gently lays Brooke down on the couch as his wife keeps calling Brooke's name to wake her up.

"Haley." Nathan sternly calls to his wife who turns to look at him. "She's in a really bad state. I'm not comfortable moving her but I don't think we have a choice. I'm going to take her to the hospital but I need you to stay with Jamie, okay?" Nathan can barely keep down his panic but he knows that someone had to be thinking rational and his wife isn't in the place to do so.

"No. I'll call Quinn and have her come over. I want to be with her."

"Hales, you won't be able to do anything for her now." Nathan gently reminds his wife.

"Nathan, I'm coming."

Nathan wants to object more but knows he doesn't have time to argue and has to get Brooke to the hospital. "Okay. Meet us at the hospital after Quinn comes over." Nathan quickly rushes over to Brooke and carefully picks her up and rushes to the car and after getting Brooke seated gets into the driver's seat and races off to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital a few minutes later Nathan quickly parks and runs into the emergency entrance with Brooke.

"I need help." Nurses quickly comes over to him and takes Brooke out of his hands to put on a gurney before they roll off.

Nathan is left to sit and wait as he prays his friend will be okay. Nathan doesn't know what is happening. An hour earlier he was putting his son to bed with his wife and now he is in the hospital begging that his friend, who disappeared years ago, will be okay.

Nathan knows that Brooke wouldn't want or need to be crowded around after she wakes up but Nathan still knows that he has to call one person who has been struggling without her.

Nathan gets up and goes outside to call his brother who would want to be here. After dialing and hearing the ringing, Nathan hopes he is doing the right thing for both Lucas and Brooke.

"Hey, Bro. What's up?"

"Lucas, listen. Something happened." Nathan isn't sure how to tell him but knew it needed to be done.

"What's wrong? Is Haley okay? Jamie?"

Hearing the panic in his voice Nathan has to tell him, "Brooke's back. And it's bad. We're at the hospital."

Silence is heard on the other end until, "I'm on my way."

Nathan puts his phone away and goes back to the waiting room.

A few minutes later, Lucas and Haley show up but after greeting each other everyone sits down in silence.

A couple of hours later, a doctor comes out, "Is anyone here for Brooke Davis?"

The three of them stand up and rush over to the doctor who holds a grim face.

"What is it?" Lucas blurts he doesn't have the patience to wait any longer.

"Well…Mrs. Davis's injuries are severe and there are some complications…"

 **To be continued… Please let me know what you think or even if you are interested in reading more.**


	2. Injuries and Many More Injuries

_Last time_

 _"_ _Is anyone here for Brooke Davis?"_

 _The three of them stand up and rush over to the doctor who holds a grim face._

 _"_ _What is it?" Lucas blurts he doesn't have the patience to wait any longer._

 _"_ _Well…Mrs. Davis's injuries are severe and there are some complications…"_

"Is she going to be okay?" Lucas doesn't want to stall anymore. He just wants to know that his pretty girl is going to be okay. Since Brooke vanished nothing is the same and Lucas can't even imagine what he will do if Brooke isn't going to be okay. He doesn't want to think about knowing that he never can see her and hold her again. At least with her disappearing, Lucas could hope that she was happy with friends around. Now that Brooke is back and clearly isn't in any life that Lucas could have hoped for, Lucas just prays that she will be okay and promises to himself that if she is going to be okay that they will do all they can to help her.

The doctor sighs. He hates his job sometimes when he has to be the one to give families bad news. Looking down at his clipboard he begins, "Brooke's injuries are severe. Ms. Davis's left arm is broken which we put in a cast and is currently being elevated, three broken ribs and two bruised ribs, a severely broken nose, internal bleeding which we performed surgery and stopped, and her right leg is broken. But the most worrisome injuries are her head which shows signs of head trauma and her neck which indicates that she was choked repeatedly. Due to trouble breathing from the choking we have wires giving oxygen through the nose." The doctor pauses here. This is always the hardest part to tell loved ones and looking at their already horrified and panicked faces he is afraid to do it.

Sensing the doctor had something more to say, Haley speaks up, "What is it? There's something else isn't there?" Although it is a question Haley's tone indicates that she already knows there is more and is just waiting for him to confirm her suspicions but at the same time begging for that to be all that her friend has to deal with.

The doctor nods slightly at her, "Due to the head trauma and her other injuries, Ms. Davis is unresponsive."

"You mean she's in a coma?" Nathan asks. Knowing his friend, who is practically a sister to him, has been going through so much all alone he's terrified that she won't ever be back to the loving, joyful, girl he remembers.

"Yes," Seeing all three of their faces drop he continues, "But it is common with these injuries and it will give her body time to recover."

"Is there any chance that she won't wake up?" Lucas is terrified of the answer but needs to know.

"Usually with these injuries the person recovers shortly, but every case is different."

"Can we see her?" Haley hesitantly asks.

"Of course. She is in room 309 in the ICU." **(I realize if she is in the ICU nobody of maybe only one person will be able to see her but for the sake of my story that rule isn't there.)**

"Thank you, Doctor," Haley gratefully says.

After the doctor leaves Nathan, Haley and Lucas are left in their thoughts for their friend.

"I think we should see her. Maybe it will help her recover. I've heard in some cases that people in comas can hear what is going on around them," Haley offers, hoping to raise everyone's spirits a little.

"She'll wake up. It's Brooke. Nothing can keep her down for long," Lucas refuses to believe that she won't wake up. She has to and if being with her will help her get better then Lucas won't leave until she wakes up.

"Okay then. Let's all head over to the room. Brooke's waiting," Nathan tries to joke to lighten the mood.

They walk slowly to the ICU floor before finding Brooke's room number. Without going in, the three of them stare at the girl they all love through the window and their heart breaks even more.

Wires seem to be coming out of everywhere to monitor their friend and Brooke is covered with bruises with bandages and casts over her biggest injuries. With what little skin they could see that wasn't bruised, Brooke was extremely pale and if didn't know better they would think it isn't the same person at all.

"Come on," Nathan decides to take the lead, seeing that his wife and brother were so distraught. Leading Haley and Lucas into the room, Nathan tires to cover his own panic and tears at seeing his little sister so injured. Even with seeing her before to Nathan Brooke looks even weaker and fragile, two words Nathan never thought he would use to describe his friend. Nathan realized too late that after Haley got pregnant, he wasn't there for Brooke as much as he should have been, and after seeing what she was going through with her parents moving away, her losing her money, and what was happening with Lucas and Peyton. Nathan vows that if Brooke wakes up, he will do whatever she needs, be there for her and will help her recover.

Lucas is at a loss for words. Seeing Brooke, after all this time, looking so weak, Lucas feels whatever was left of his heart shatter even more. Lucas feels unbelievable guilty for not knowing what Brooke was going through and not looking for her hard enough. Although he never stopped searching for his first love, Lucas grew more and more hopeless at ever finding his pretty girl again.

When he first started dating Brooke, she opened him up to so many things and he felt forever grateful to her for believing him in and giving him a chance. But, when her best friend, Peyton, who he first liked, returned the feelings he ignored his conscious and in the end broke both girl's hearts. Even after, by some miracle, Brooke gave him another chance he once again destroyed her trust and her heart when he kissed Peyton when she was upset about Jake one day. Lucas doesn't even remember what he was thinking when they kissed and when Brooke found out, he lied to himself and tried to date Peyton to tell himself it wasn't for nothing. That he didn't hurt the best person he knows just for a moment of weakness. But after Brooke disappeared, Lucas and Peyton realized that they weren't right for each other and ended their relationship. Even when he was dating Peyton, Lucas couldn't get Brooke out of his head and will forever hate himself that it took Brooke disappearing to see Peyton isn't the one for him and never was. Now looking at his broken girl and the only girl he ever truly loved he promises that he will be there for her and take care of her the way he should have all along.

Haley watches as Lucas takes a seat by Brooke's bed and Nathan and her sit down on the other two chairs in the room. Haley can't stop a few tears from rolling down her face at the sight of her best friend. Haley feels like the worst friend ever. She was happy with her son and husband and all of their friends and family and wasn't even aware of what was going on with Brooke. After looking for her for a few months, Haley gave up searching and she will never forgive herself for that. Brooke plays a big part in Nathan and her getting together and Jamie being born and Haley thinks back to all the times Brooke was there for Haley. Brooke always selflessly supported and cared for her friends and Haley knows that without her Haley would never be where she is today. Therefore, while looking at her barely recognizable friend, Haley Scott promises that she will be there for Brooke and be the friend that Brooke Davis deserves and needs.

 **I know this chapter isn't exciting but this needed to happen to discuss her injuries and introduce the next chapter (SPOILER SPOILER) where Brooke wakes up. Sorry about so little dialogue I really wanted this chapter to go into the feelings that Haley, Nathan and Lucas feel but I promise there will be more conversation in the following chapters as the story picks up.**

 **Announcement: I had intended for this story to be a Brucas with Naley and Jeyton and a few other pairings. But if you want a different pairing or something let me know. Or if you want the pairings from above let me know also. Thanks again for reading and reviewing.**


	3. It's Time To Wake Up

**This takes back about three hours after the last chapter**

Other than the nurses coming in to check on Brooke every half hour, nobody has said much. They were all too caught up in their own guilt and pain for the still girl in front of them.

When the doctor walks into the room he almost jumps in surprise to find all three of them still there. He figured they would have left hours ago.

Nathan, Haley, and Lucas all wake up a little at the doctor's entrance. They are all hoping he has good news to tell them.

After coming over and checking on his patient the doctor addresses the others in the room. "I didn't expect all of you to still be here. There isn't anything you can do for her. It might be a good idea to get some rest so you will all be healthy when she wakes up."

"We're fine, here. How is she?" Nathan has no intention of leaving Brooke and could tell by the expressions on Haley and Lucas' face they feel the same.

The doctor sighs. He knows that they are expecting better news but for right now he doesn't have any. "There's no change."

"What do you mean no change? Is she going to be okay?" Lucas loudly asks with a hard tone, glaring at the doctor. He knows that it isn't the doctor's fault that Brooke is in this condition but he needs to blame someone and he doesn't know who actually is responsible.

Being a doctor for years, he knows that some people lash out and ignores the cold tone and glare directed his way and instead answers the question. "It's too early to tell. Head injuries are very difficult to predict. Every patient reacts differently."

"What are you not telling us?" Haley questions.

"With these kinds of injuries, the longer the patient remains unconscious the worse it could be."

"What does that mean? How long is it until that becomes a danger?" Lucas glances at the injured girl and almost expects her to be lying there laughing at them for worrying so much.

"As I said before every case is different, but we like to see the patient wake up within twenty four hours," the doctor replies honestly. The remaining three's faces all become even more concerned with the news. Realizing that he can't say anything to help the doctor quietly excuses himself, promising to come back as soon as he can.

Nathan grabs Haley's hand, hoping the action provides some comfort, both for himself and his wife. He needs to reassure himself that she is okay and safe, that he is not alone in this.

Nathan glances at Lucas and instantly feels bad. His brother isn't as lucky as him.

The only person that could provide any sort of comfort for Lucas is lying in a hospital bed, fighting for her life. He now knows more than ever that Brooke needs to wake up. Not only for Haley, him, and all their other friends but Nathan knows that Lucas won't be able to survive without her.

Even with all these years passing, Lucas hasn't stopped looking for her and if she doesn't make it Nathan doesn't know what Lucas is going to do but is sure he won't be the same. He can't even imagine how he would feel if it was Haley in that bed and if he feels this bad about Brooke he doesn't even want to think about how it must be for Lucas.

Even after everything that has happened, Nathan realized a long time ago that Brooke and Lucas were always meant to be and thinks if it wasn't for both of their stubbornness they would be together.

Nathan just hopes that they will have another chance and promises that if Brooke comes out of this that he will make sure those two get together even if he has to lock them in a room for hours until they realize it.

Haley squeezes Nathan's hand back. She is so glad that he is here. If not Haley would have broken down a long time ago.

Brooke is one of the best people Haley knows and she hates that so much has happened to her. Even before this Brooke's life hasn't been easy.

She grew up with basically no one to take care of her. Being popular, Brooke confessed to Haley that she feels that she has to hide who she is because she thinks that no one will like the real Brooke.

With all the partying and guys, Haley knows Brooke still felt alone. But she still started to turn her life around. She stopped drinking so much and she started to settle down with guys and to commit and even improved her grades in school. She was really going to go places, Haley is positive of that.

She promises that if, no when, Brooke recovers Haley will make sure Brooke becomes the person she always dreamed of being.

Lucas doesn't know how to react. It almost seems like a dream to him. Finding Brooke after all these years and seeing how much trouble she was in. He doesn't want to admit it but he knows this isn't the first time Brooke has been hurt by someone. He noticed scars that only a person who knows her as well as he does would see. Lucas knows those are new because when he saw her last they weren't here. He feels sick at the thought of someone abusing his pretty girl like this.

An hour later not much has changed. Nurses continue to come in to check on Brooke but each time they come back with no new news. This time a new nurse comes in.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask two of you to leave. Visiting hours are over and only one person is allowed to stay with a patient overnight," the nurse regretfully informs. She checks on Brooke and runs her usual tests before stepping out.

Haley and Nathan glance at each other and without words agree that Lucas should be the one to stay with her.

"Hey, Lucas. Haley and I are going to go home to get some sleep and check on Jamie. You going to be okay?" Nathan asks, not wanting to leave Lucas alone.

"Yeah I'll be fine."

"Okay… Goodnight."

Haley goes over to Brooke and squeezes her hand and Nathan carefully kisses her forehead before them both head off promising to be back first thing tomorrow morning.

With Lucas left alone with Brooke he starts talking to her and hopes that somehow she can hear him.

"Hey, Brooke. It's me Lucas," His voice cracks and he doesn't try and stop the tears from falling down his face. "I know that you are tired and recovering but we really need you here," he pauses before continuing, "I need you here. I don't know what I would do without you, baby. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to hurt you. I want you to know that it's always been you. I know now isn't the time to tell you and I should have told you a long time ago but I love you. I've only ever loved you. Peyton was a mistake. After you disappeared we kind of fell apart and both realized that we weren't meant to be. She's with Jake now. I know she would want to be here for you. They went on a cruise for a week but they will be back in two days. We all missed you Brooke. You are the heart of the group and nobody was the same after you left. Brooke I know you're probably scared and in pain but I really need you to wake up. I promise that we will all be there for you and help you get better. I'm so so sorry for what I did to you and how much I hurt you and I know I don't deserve it but I really need you to be okay. I love you so much and I'm so sorry that my stubbornness and my blindness has gotten in the way. I really really need you to wake up. I promise I won't leave you again and I won't hurt you. Please? I love you," Lucas couldn't continue anymore. He gave in to the emotions and the feelings that he has been hiding and is crying too hard to talk anymore.

He feels a slight squeeze on the hand he is holding and he glances up at Brooke's head whose eyes are still closed. "Brooke?" He really hopes he wasn't imagining the squeeze and Brooke really was waking up. "Brooke? Baby, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes for me, baby girl. We will keep you safe. Everything's going to be okay."

Brooke feels nothing but pain. Her whole body is hurting and she can't move at all. She starts panicking and fights against herself to wake up. As things start to become clearer, she starts to hear the things around her and hears Lucas' speech. She wants to cry at the things he is admitting. She never let herself hope that they could be together again and hearing him say he loves her and that he's sorry makes her fight even harder to wake up. She wants to tell him that she loves him too and that she never meant to leave.

These past few years after she was taken gave her a lot of time to think. She regrets what happened in high school and she promised herself a long time ago that if she ever escaped that she wouldn't make the same mistakes again.

Brooke fights as hard as she can to wake up and to comfort Lucas as she hears the pain in his voice. When she hears Lucas's crying she finally uses all her strength and she is able to lightly squeeze her hand. She feels her eyes flutter before finally being able to open them and seeing Lucas with tears running down his face and a huge smile on her face. As she realized where she was and became more aware of her surroundings she started to panic and tried to pull at the tube in her throat.

Lucas couldn't contain the smile he felt as he saw Brooke open her eyes. For the first time since he got the phone call from Nathan, Lucas felt everything was going to be okay. His smile disappeared though when he saw her eyes fill with panic and Brooke try to pull at the tube in her throat. "Brooke? It's okay. The tube is helping you breath. Your safe." His words were having little effect though and he tried to pull her hand away from her throat and with his other hand he pressed the call button repeatedly.

A nurse rushed in. realizing what was happening she quickly rushed out and found the doctor and they both rushed back to Brooke's room. The doctor glanced at her vitals and could see her heart rate going up. He told the nurse to get something and she returned with a shot in her hand. The doctor quickly injected the medicine into the patient.

Brooke felt herself calm down and although she fought, her body slipped into unconsciousness and everything faded.

"What did you do?" Lucas screamed at the doctor. He was terrified when she wouldn't calm down and the monitor started going off. When he saw the doctor inject something into Brooke and her fall back unconscious he panicked.

"It's okay. I gave her a sedative. She was going to hurt herself otherwise. I'm going to take out the tube in her throat so she doesn't panic again next time she wakes up. It puts her to sleep but she should only be out for a few hours. She'll be okay," The doctor excited the room after checking her vitals.

Lucas visibly relaxed at the news. She was going to be okay. With that thought Lucas gave into the sleep that his body craved.

 **Hope you guys like this chapter. I had a really hard time writing it so I hope it turned out okay. Let me know what you think!**


	4. Comforting Loved Ones

The next morning Brooke's hospital room is quiet. Lucas finally fell asleep after fighting it for a few hours and Brooke hasn't woken up since the first time. The breathing tube was taken out after Brooke woke up and the nurses continued to monitor Brooke with little change.

Brooke groans in pain as she starts to wake up. She begins to freak out at the strange place she is before she looks down at the weight beside her. Seeing Lucas sleeping with his head on her bed and his hand holding hers makes Brooke calm down some.

Brooke can't help but smile as she sees the sleeping man. She always dreamed of coming back here, but never let herself truly believe she could get away from the hellhole she has been forced to live in for the past few years.

Brooke can't resist picking up her hand and running it carefully through Lucas's hair. The slight movement causes him to move and slowly wake up and Brooke panics. She knows she shouldn't have done that and she is in no position to escape but she still starts to back away and make herself as small as possible on the bed.

Lucas feels a hand go through his hair, waking him up from his sleep. He looks up and sees Brooke shaking and backing away with tears in her eyes. Lucas doesn't know what to do but knows he has to help Brooke to calm down and realize she is safe.

"Brooke, baby. It's okay. Everything's fine. You are safe now. It's just me, Lucas. Nobody's going to hurt you," Lucas says as calmly as he can as he tries not to show how scared he actually is at seeing Brooke this way. He tries to touch her but she pulls away and starts shaking even more.

"Don't hurt me. I'm sorry I woke you up. I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry. Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry," Brooke struggles to get out in between her panicked breathing.

Lucas doesn't understand why she thinks he was going to hurt her for waking him up, but he can see how scared she is and knows he has to help her before she hurts herself. "Baby girl, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm glad you woke me up. I won't ever hurt you, I promise."

Brooke is still scared but she wants to believe him. She slightly lifts her head to look at him with wide panicked eyes, but her breathing slows down slightly.

Lucas can see the positive effect his word are having on Brooke so he continues. "It's okay. You are safe. Nobody's going to hurt you. Just relax and breath, pretty girl."

Something snaps in Brooke when she hears Lucas's old nickname for her and she realizes he isn't going to let anything happen to her. Brooke jumps out of her bed and onto Lucas lap as she clings to him as tightly as she can and cries for the first time in years, letting out all of her feelings she kept bottled up.

Lucas holds Brooke close to him as he carefully hugs her body, being mindful of her injuries. He can feel Brooke shaking and hear her heartbreaking sobs as he rubs her back and whispers calming words into her ears.

Lucas doesn't know what happened to Brooke over the past few years to cause her this much pain but vows that he won't let anyone hurt her again and promises that over and over to her as she cries into him.

He promised himself that whoever caused her this amount of pain would be held responsible. He owes it to Brooke.

Brooke finally starts to calm down after crying for what seems like years. She still holds onto Lucas for dear life but her breathing slows down to a normal rate and her tears stop.

Lucas is grateful when Brooke finally stops crying. He would hold her forever if she needed him to, but his heart breaks every time he feels her tears on his shirt and hears her sobs as her body shakes.

"Hey, sweetie. You feeling any better? Can I get you anything?"

Brooke shakes her head at his questions. She isn't ready to let go of him in fear that this is really all a dream and the moment he lets go she would wake up.

Almost as if Lucas can hear Brooke's thoughts he responds, "I'm not going anywhere but you should probably eat something. You need your strength and you need to take care of yourself. I'm not going anywhere. If you want I can call a nurse in hear and I'm sure you can get something to eat and you should probably get checked out by a doctor too."

Lucas almost feels like kicking himself when he realizes that he never called in the doctor to make sure she was okay after she woke up.

Brooke wanted to argue again but knew it would be useless. Lucas wouldn't give up and to be honest she was a little hungry. She hasn't had a real meal since she left because _they_ never fed her well if she was even fed at all.

Instead Brooke nods her head against Brooke as he presses the call button by her bed. A minute later a nurse comes in and sees Brooke awake and clinging to Lucas.

The nurse smiles at her and after a quick check of the monitor she leaves to go and get Brooke's doctor.

"Well, look who is awake. I can see that you are comfortable, but I need to check you to make sure everything is okay. Would you be willing to climb back into bed for a few minutes. I will be quick, I promise," The doctor says carefully to the patient, being aware that anything can set her off.

Brooke is extremely hesitant but with a look at Lucas's nodding face she reluctantly lets go and carefully climbs back into her hospital bed. She still clings tightly to Lucas's hand but nobody says anything about it as the doctor comes over to check on her.

She stiffens up as the doctor approaches, so Lucas scoots closer to her and whispers soothing things to her and brushes softly through her hair.

After a few painful minutes, the doctor finally finishes and tells the two people that everything seems to be okay and he will be back a little later.

Both Lucas and Brooke let out a breath of relief at the news. The nurse watches the two and smiles. She knows that Brooke is in for a long road ahead but is glad she has someone to be with her for the ride.

"So can I get you something to eat?"

Brooke glances quickly at Lucas before responding with her order after looking at the menu for food served at the hospital.

The nurse nods and quickly leaves the two alone.

After a moment of silence, Lucas begins, "We should talk…"

 **I am debating whether or not to have a few couples and would like to hear your opinions. Do you guys think Mouth should have/meet Millie? If yes, do you think she should know Brooke or not? Also do you guys think Alex/Chase should be in this story or not? Lastly, how big of a part do you all think they should play? Remember either way it mostly focuses on Brooke/Lucas with Nathan/Haley and Jake/Peyton. Let me know what you all think and if you all have any other ideas.**

 **Also next chapter you will find out a little more of where Brooke has been and Lucas and her finally talk it out as well as the return of Naley and Peyton and Jake.**


	5. What Do We Do?

**I am just going to say this once now. This will not be any type of a Peyton and Lucas story. This is a Brucas story and I really don't at this time want any kind of conflict because of that. They will all be friends. Also I decided not to have it as a Chase and Alex romance at all but I am still debating on any other romances. So far these are the definite pairings in this story. Brucas. Naley. Jeyton. Okay now that that's cleared up on with the reason why you really came here.**

 _"_ _Brooke…Brooke…Brooke…"_

 _She turns to the direction of the voices but she doesn't see anything but darkness._

 _"_ _Who is there? What do you want?"_

 _"_ _We are coming for you. You will never get rid of us," one voice calls out._

 _"_ _I got away. You won't get to me."_

 _"_ _We will. We know where you are. We're on our way," another voice responded._

 _"_ _You can't. You're lying," Brooke tries to sound convincing but her voice shakes as she speaks._

 _"_ _You know we can. We are so close," a third voice announces._

 _"_ _You can't hurt me. My friends will protect me. They'll stop you."_

 _"_ _They don't care about you. Nobody cares. They have all moved on," another voice argues._

 _"_ _They do. They do," Brooke answers but she almost says it like she needs to convince herself too._

 _"_ _No they don't. You are nothing to them. We are the only ones left for you," a fifth voice adds._

 _"_ _You're lying. Stop it."_

 _"_ _You know it's true. You aren't worth it. You are nothing. You are weak and selfish and hopeless," one continues._

 _"_ _They'll help me, they'll save me."_

 _"_ _No they won't. They don't care. You are just an inconvenience to them. They will forget all about you and go back to their lives. Their_ _real_ _lives," another voice responds._

 _"_ _No, you are wrong," Brooke's voice has been losing volume each time she speaks and by this time it is barely there at all._

 _"_ _We are coming Brooke. Nobody can save you from us. You belong to us," they conclude._

Brooke wakes up with a gasp. She is covered in sweat and her body is violently shaking.

She looks around the room but doesn't see anyone there. The chair beside her bed is empty. They were right. Nobody cares. Nobody is going to save her. She isn't worth it. She's nothing.

Alone with that thought, Brooke starts sobbing, reminding her once again how weak she is.

An hour earlier...

Lucas jumps up in his chair when Nathan and Haley walk into the room.

"Sorry. We didn't mean to wake you," Haley apologizes.

"It's okay. I was up, just thinking," Lucas responds.

Nathan looks at the sleeping girl in the hospital bed, "How is she?"

Lucas sighs, "She woke up last night."

Haley looks at him, "That's good, isn't it? That means she's going to be okay."

Lucas glances at Brooke, "I guess. When she woke up she started crying and then started panicking. They had to give her something before she could hurt herself any. When she woke up a few hours later she was just as upset and I finally got her to eat something before she cried herself to sleep."

Nathan smiles sadly at her oldest friend. "She'll be okay. We'll help her."

"I hope so." Lucas wants to believe them but he has doubts. The way she acted last night scared him. He's never seen anyone that upset. When she woke up a few hours later she was still pretty out of it. He barely got her to eat something. He wanted to talk to her last night but when he saw how tired she was they both agreed they would talk later and she quickly fell back asleep.

As she was sleeping, Lucas couldn't stop his thoughts from coming. He quickly put thoughts of what happened out of his mind until they can talk. They were too painful to even imagine and would wait until she told him what happened. He thought about her and what she meant and still means to him and hate that she is like this. He thought about how amazing she used to be and how he really thought if she put her mind to it she could do anything. He really believes Brooke Davis can and will change the world someday. No matter what though, he will never leave her again and will be there with her until she's better.

Nathan looks at his brother. As much as he wants to be with Brooke, Lucas needs him more right now. He can see the circles under his eyes and even though it's only been one night in the hospital he looks like he's aged years. Nathan know his friend and Lucas has been so focused on Brooke and helping her that he hasn't been taking care of himself.

"Why don't we all go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast? I for one could eat something."

Haley figures out what her husband is trying to do and quickly agrees. Lucas, however, looks uncertain.

"Come on, Lucas. You need to take care of yourself first before you can help Brooke. You won't be any help to her if you collapse," Haley warns.

"Okay," Lucas let's go of Brooke's hand he was holding and follows them out. He knows Brooke would kill hum if she found out he wasn't taking care of herself.

A few minutes later everyone has gotten some food and the three friends were all sitting at a table. It's silent for a few minutes before Lucas starts talking.

"What are we going to do? How can we help her? We don't even know what happened."

"We be there for her. We love her. We remind her of who she is. For now that's all we can do. We have to pray that will be enough," Haley told him.

"And what if it isn't? What if it's not enough?"

"It will be. We just have to believe it. If we don't there's no way we can help Brooke. She has to know that we all are there for her," Nathan added.

They were all left to their own thoughts after that. As much as they wanted a clear answer for now there wasn't one. They just needed to be there and pray that they will figure it out as they go along. Either way no matter what nobody was giving up on Brooke.

After they finished eating, they threw away all their trash and start walking back to Brooke's room. When they get close enough they heard soft crying coming from Brooke's room and walk faster.

"Brooke? Sweetie?" Haley gently called out when they walked into the room.

Brooke looked up when she heard the voice. Her tears and the sadness and pain in her eyes made them all feel broken.

"Brooke, honey. What's wrong? What happened?" Nathan asks with a soft voice as they all come up to her and pull the chairs closer to her bed.

Brooke sniffles slightly as she tries to gain control of her tears. "I thought you all left. That you all didn't care about me."

"Why would you think that? We would never leave. I promise. We all are going to be there for you," Lucas assures her.

" _They_ told me that you didn't care. That's why you never responded to any of my letters. You didn't care," Brooke softly told them. Even in that evil place the only slimmer of hope she had been allowed was that she could write letters to her friends. She didn't have much leeway though. Even though she was allowed to write them, they still read over her letters and sent them out themselves. She was never allowed outside. They kept her in that place.

Nathan, Haley, and Lucas were even more confused at her response. They never got any letters from her. They weren't lying when they said they haven't heard from her ever since she disappeared.

"That's not true. Of course we care. We were heartbroken when you left. We tried looking for you but nobody could find you. We never got any letters," Haley promises the fragile girl.

Brooke's tears lessen at this news. She probably should have expected that the letters wouldn't have been sent out like they promised. It was just another way of controlling her. Making her believe that nobody was out there that cared.

After Brooke calmed down and her tears stopped Brooke spoke up, "I guess you all want to know what happened."

 **Sorry I know that I told you that it would be this chapter where she tells them what happened but I promise it will be revealed in the next chapter.**


End file.
